Devices and the art of prevention of disturbances in the tectonics of the earth{3 s crust

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this invention is to prevent earthquakes and other disturbances in the crust of the earth by averting loss of support to its structures by replacement of support lost by withdrawal or removal of substances contained in it at the point of the withdrawal or removal, wherever possible; and by the prevention of loss of substances in its structure that support it, where advisable or feasible. In the case of oil production, the withdrawn oil and the support that the oil structure gives overlying structures is effectively replaced by water, mud or other substances, introduced preferrably at the time and at the point of oil production into a level of the oil structure below the oil in amounts sufficient to maintain the initial bottom-hole pressure as well as the table level of water in overlying structures, without effecting to potability thereof.

United States Patent 91 Josephson Feb. 26, 1974 [75] Inventor: Emanuel M. Josephson, New York,

[73] Assignee: Irving Seidman, New York, NY.

[22] Filed: Mar. 18, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 125,621

[52] U.S. Cl. 61/35 [51] Int. Cl. E02d [58] Field of Search 61/35, 36; 166/268, 275

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,508,407 4/1970 Booth 61/35 1,899,497 2/1933 Doherty 166/268 3,459,003 8/1969 ONeal 61/35 3,051,234 8/1962 Kyte 1 1. 166/275 1,885,807 11/1932 Doherty.... 166/268 X 2,842,204 7/1958 Horner 1 166/268 3,586,378 6/1971 Dietz 61/35 X Primary ExaminerMervin Stein Assistant ExaminerPhilip C. Kannan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-lrving Seidman; .lulius Fisher [5 7] ABSTRACT The purpose of this invention is to prevent earthquakes and other disturbances in the crust of the earth by averting loss of support to its structures by replacement of support lost by withdrawal or removal of substances contained in it at the point of the withdrawal or removal, wherever possible; and by the prevention of loss of substancesin its structure that support it, where advisable or feasible. In the case of oil production, the withdrawn oil and the support that the oil structure gives overlying structures is effectively replaced by water, mud or other substances, introduced preferrably at the time and at the point of oil production into a level of the oil structure below the oil in amounts sufficient to maintain the initial bottom-hole pressure as well as the table level of water in overlying structures, without effecting to potability thereof.

12 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures DEVICES AND THE ART OF PREVENTION OF DISTURBANCES IN THE TECTONICS OF THE EARTH S CRUST The sinking of mined geologic structures, and of towns overlying the mined structures, that collapse because of loss of support caused by the removal of material in the course of mining is a well recognized and understood calamity. It is less widely recognized that the removal of other substances from the earths crust often cause far more widespread disturbances in the earths tectonics and earthquakes. It is not known that the production of such substances as sulphur and nitrates by melting or dissolving in hot water introduced under pressure has caused any damaging disturbances in the earths tectonics. The most devastating disturbances of the earths tectonics and the most damaging earthquakes have followed the drainage of the oceans of oil and gas on which sections of the earths crust rest, or float, especially in regions where the earths crust is known to be cracked and faulted. The most recent of these is the earthquake centered in Newhall,California in a region that is extensively faulted and overlying and surrounded by voluminously producing oilfields. Other such faulted,oil-producing geologic structures that have triggered devastating earthquakes are Alaska,lran and the Peruvian Andes. In regions where the faulted structures are vast and are underlaid by oil and gas pools that are drained most heavily at remote points, the point of greatest damage by the earthquakes may be remote from the point'of production, depending on the extent, the inclination and the vulnerability of the faulted geologic structure.

Weaknesses in the earths crust that may bring about collapse of overlying structures, that are not known to be responsible for causing more widespread damage and earthquakes, are brought about by natural process in more soluble rocks such as lime and dolomite that can be dissolved and washed out by the trickle or flow of water, especially when that water has been acidified by the acids formed in the course of decay of vegetation in overlying swamps, with the resultant formation of underground caves into which overlying structures and occasionally towns sink and disappear. This condition prevails in sections of Florida where the seepage into underlying structures of the acid waters formed in the course of the decay of vegetation in the Everglades swamp may be expected to bring about the collapse and disappearance of whole sections of the State, in the long run.

My invention relates to the prevention and remedy of defects in the earths crust that are brought about by natural processes or by designed and deliberate removal of substances from it in such processes as mining and the production of oil and gas, thereby preventing narrow or widespread collapse of overlying structures and earthquakes. Nothing is more devastating to the ecology than the processes that it will serve to correct, by replacing the removed material in the earths crust simultaneously with its removal or as soon as discovered.

ln mining, the waste rock from which the minerals have been extracted, is replaced in the mine from which it has been removed in such manner as not to interfere with further mining in the rest of the structure, and as to support the overlying structures. This also serves the dual purpose of reducing the danger of exreplaced with earth, mud, rock or other substances that will pack and fuse with the replaced rock.

In the case of caves and other defects in the crust of the earth brought about by natural processes, the first step is elimination of the condition responsible for their creation, such as the diversion of streams supplying the water that drains underground and the drainage of swamps that are the sources of the corrosive flow. The caves and other defects are then filled in with available mud, earth, rock or other available and appropriate material.

Replacement of material removed from underground geologic structures in the course of production of oil and gas is effected in manners that are determined by the nature of the oilfield from which the production has been derived.

ln oil and gas fields in which the propulsive force is the pressure of the gas that is simultaneously produced, it has been found that repressuring the productive structure with the produced gas for which there is no other use,helps in some measure to maintain the bottom hole pressure and the support that it affords to ad jacent and overlying structures and to sustain the rate of oil production. This has been the practise,hitherto, in Venezuelan oilfields among others. The reintroduction of gas into the producing structure does not suffice to maintain the support of adjacent and overlying structures because of the steady loss of oil in the course of production from the structure. The gas repressuring must be supplemented in the same manner as other evacuations from the earths crust.

ln oilfields in which the propulsive force effecting the production is water pressure that may be supplemented by the pressure of gases formed from the volatilization of the oil hydrocarbons and other volatile substances, as well as the pressure of inert gases. As the bottomhole pressure and the volume of oil become reduced in spite of the inflow of water into the structure, support to adjacent and overlying structures is reduced with consequent danger of shifting and/or collapse, and of earthquakes developing as a consequence in adjacent or remote regions,depending on the faulting of the earths crust and the vulnerability of the region.

Injection of water is utilized both in primary and secondary recovery of oil for the purpose of bringing about more rapid migration of oil through sand and other porous substances in the producing structure. The water is introduced through wells placed at the periphery of the structure and at other strategic points at a distance from the producing wells. These water injections are not designed to maintain the support of adjacent and overlying structures, and do not serve to do tain support to weakened and impaired geologic structures in the earths crust, whether resulting from natural causes or from withdrawal of substances from them.

The purpose of my invention is to supply and main-- My invention accomplishes this purpose by filling the naturally occurring defects with substances that serves ,among other purposes, to support adjacent and overlying structures; and by replacing substances removed from the earths crust in the course of mining and the production of oil,gas and other minerals,continuously and simultaneously with the production the removed substances, or as soon as possible after the production, with materials of equal or equivalent supportive value, or higher supportive value. In the instance of oil,gas and other minerals, the replacing substance may also serve to increase production, and/or its rate, by raising bottom-hole pressure.

My invention accomplishes this purpose by introducing into producing oil gas and mineral structures at or below the point of production and under pressure equal to the initial bottom-hole pressure, water,mud or other substances. in structures in which there are uncapped dry holes,exhausted well or other vents, they are effectively sealed in order to insure maintenance of adequate pressure and support of adjacent and overlying structures. Water used as such,or as an ingredient of the mud, should be ocean water for two reasons: first remineralization of the structure; and second the possibility that the organic content of the water,such as plankton, might be converted in due time by the bacteria present in oil structures that originally converted organic matter into hydrocarbons might do so again under identical conditions that can be expected to prevail in the structure when production is exhausted and the wells sealed. The mud used to replace the oil withdrawn is selected to sediment out into a substance of desired porosity,to avert blocking of residual production,and to serve to adsorb minerals in the ocean water to prevent pollution of ground water.

The replacement of the removed products is best and most effectively done simultaneously with production and introduced at the point of production but at a deeper level in the structure than the level of production, and at a pressure equal to the original bottom-hole pressure. It may be introduced through the same well as that producing through a separate casing that extends deeper than the casing through which production is obtained, or through another strategically placed well, both extending down to the floor of the structure producing.

in offshore drilling, a supply of ocean water offers no problems, in repressuring. For onshore production- ,ocean water will be supplied by pipeline. Wave motion of the ocean can be made to supply some of the energy required for that purpose; as well as some of the energy required for repressuring the well. An incidental ecologic benefit will ensue from this use of ocean'water properly filtered through a selected medium, as a result of raising the table level of ground water and reclamation of arid regions.

One form of the device and process by which the purposes of this invention is attained,is shown in the illustrations in which FIG. I is a cross-section of an oilfield before production,

FIG. II is the same oilfield after production has reduced the support to adjacent and overlying structures, and

FIG. lll the condition of the structure and of overlying and adjacent structures when evacuated and produced substances have been replaced with material offering equal or equivalent support to adjacent and overlying structures. l,is mountain on higher side of fault 3,which leaves level of ground on the far side of the fault 2, higher than that on the opposite side of it,4. 5,is the well producing from oil pool l0,in which 7 is the gas the oil is 8, and the water is 9. 11, is the mud drive casing directly adjacent to the casing of the well, that is driven well down beyond the level of production into the mud and water on the floor of the pool that is continually driven in under a pressure equal to the original bottom-hole pressure, thus supporting overlying and adjacent structures, thus averting collapse of overlying structures and slipping of them along the fault line and tilting that characterizes a type of earthquake.

I claim:

1. A process for preventing weakening of the tectonics of the earths crust, collapse of structures therein and earthquakes caused thereby by the removal of hydrocarbons and other substances from geologic structures therein, by filling said structures entirely with liquids introduced into said structures, maintaining said structures filled with said liquids, said liquids being non-compressible and providing hydraulic and solid support greater than the original support of stratified solids, liquids and gas.

2. A process according to claim 1 in which said liquid is water.

3. A process according to claim 1 in which said liquid is admixed with substances that sediment out and set to form a porous and permeable mass and with said liquid fills and reinforces said structure.

4. A process according to claim 3 wherein said porous and permeable mass constitutes an ionic filter which filters out the salts present in said water, releasing in said structure potable ground water.

5. A process according to claim 4 wherein the level of said potable ground water is raised to reclaim arid land making it available for agricultural use.

6. A process according to claim 3 wherein said mass is an ionic filter for removing the salts and retaining said salts in said structure while releasing potable water into said structure whereby said structure is mineralized.

7. A process according to claim 1 wherein said injected liquid contains organic matter.

8. A process according to claim 7 wherein said organic matter constitutes food for organisms present in the said structure, which organisms produce hydrocarbons to stimulate continued production of hydrocarbons in said structure.

9. A process according to claim 1 wherein said liquid is sea water containing substances that sediment out and set and form a porous and permeable mass that serves as an ionic filter that removes salts and minerals from said liquid, releases potable water into said structure, mineralizes said structure and contains organic material from which bacteria and other organisms in said structure form hydrocarbons.

10. A process according to claim 1 in which said liquid is introduced simultaneously with removal of said substances and in the area of removal and at a deeper level than said area of removal of said substances.

1 l. A process according to claim 10 in which said removed substances are hydrocarbons.

12. A process according to claim 7 wherein said organic matter constitutes food for organisms introduced in said structure, said organisms producing hydrocarbons to stimulate continued production of hydrocarbons in said structure.

* t I! t l 

1. A process for preventing weakening of the tectonics of the earth''s crust, collapse of structures therein and earthquakes caused thereby by the removal of hydrocarbons and other substances from geologic structures therein, by filling said structures entirely with liquids introduced into said structures, maintaining said structures filled with said liquids, said liquids being non-compressible and providing hydraulic and solid support greater than the original support of stratified solids, liquids and gas.
 2. A process according to claim 1 in which said liquid is water.
 3. A process according to claim 1 in which said liquid is admixed with substances that sediment out and set to form a porous and permeable mass and with said liquid fills and reinforces said structure.
 4. A process according to claim 3 wherein said porous and permeable mass constitutes an ionic filter which filters out the salts present in said water, releasing in said structure potable ground water.
 5. A process according to claim 4 wherein the level of said potable ground water is raised to reclaim arid land making it available for agricultural use.
 6. A process according to claim 3 wherein said mass is an ionic filter for removing the salts and retaining said salts in said structure while releasing potable water into said structure whereby said structure is mineralized.
 7. A process according to claim 1 wherein said injected liquid contains organic matter.
 8. A process according to claim 7 wherein said organic matter constitutes food for organisms present in the said structure, which organisms produce hydrocarbons to stimulate continued production of hydrocarbons in said structure.
 9. A process according to claim 1 wherein said liquid is sea water containing substances that sediment out and set and form a porous and permeable mass that serves as an ionic filter that removes salts and minerals from said liquid, releases potable water into said structure, mineralizes said structure and contains organic material from which bacteria and other organisms in said structure form hydrocarbons.
 10. A process according to claim 1 in which said liquid is introduced simultaneously with removal of said substances and in the area of removal and at a deeper level than said area of removal of said substances.
 11. A process according to claim 10 in which said removed substances are hydrocarbons.
 12. A process according to claim 7 wherein said organic matter constitutes food for organisms introduced in said structure, said organisms producing hydrocarbons to stimulate continued production of hydrocarbons in said structure. 